Advice for New Writers

Advice for New Writers, Information Center, The Craft of Writing, The SFWA Blog, Tips for Beginners, Writing Technique

Try Writing Comics

by Sara Ryan

Whatever your situation as a writer, I’d like to encourage you to try writing in the comics format. I keep using the word “format” to emphasize that, as advocates of comics have often been compelled to repeat, “It’s a format, not a genre.” Comics are not just about superheroes, or crime, or memoir, or humor, or romance, or journalism, or realism, or surrealism, or science fiction, or fantasy. Comics can be all those things and more.

Advice for New Writers, Information Center, The Craft of Writing, Tips for Beginners, Writing Technique

The Pleasures of Anthology Editing

by Susan Forest

I like seeing a passage, whether my own or someone else’s, improve with a changed word choice, a question answered, or an idea clarified or extended. To create an entirety—a book—from the discrete stories that make it up, by juxtaposing ideas, styles and emotional content, was a satisfying and creative process that was new to me.

Advice for New Writers, Agent Etiquette, Building a Career, Contracts and Copyrights, Information Center, The Business of Writing, The SFWA Blog, Tips for Beginners

Ten Thoughts About the Business Side of Writing

by Russell Galen

Have an agent. If you feel you don’t need one, find another human being to whom you have no emotional attachments, who knows a lot about the IP business, will tell you the truth, will be a sounding board for your literary and business questions, and will speak to the buyers of your work so that you can keep some distance from them.

Advice for New Writers, Building a Career, How to Sell Your Novel, Information Center, News, The Business of Writing, The SFWA Blog

Guest Post: Amazon Bites Author

by Mary Rosenblum

So you can publish on Amazon.com, but if you’re successful they’ll yank your book? What kind of catch 22 is this? Ah, oh yes, all you authors who are trading reviews? Amazon.com, according to that helpful associate Brad spoke to, is ‘looking at’ Goodreads, too. Their own company! They’re looking at authors who connect up to swap reviews… If most of your reviews come from other authors, you might want to think about this.

Advice for New Writers, Information Center, The Craft of Writing, The SFWA Blog, Writing Technique

Dispelling the Myth of Strong Female Characters

by Megan Leigh

When it comes to equal representation in fiction, women have a long way to go. There simply aren’t enough female characters in books and that’s counting those that appear only as romantic interests, victims to be saved, or someone’s mother. Is it really so much to ask for an equal number and variety of well-written, three-dimensional female characters?

Advice for New Writers, Information Center, Manuscript Formatting, Publishing Technologies, The Business of Writing, The SFWA Blog, Tips for Beginners

Text Expansion Tools

by Aidan Doyle

Text expansion tools are a way to save time by using shortcuts for text you commonly type. For example, on my computer I type -em and it’s automatically replaced by my email address. When submitting short stories I have a standard cover letter template. I type -pubs and modify the template according to the market. If you’re an editor sending many similar emails, text expansion tools can save you a lot of time.

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